My open letter to Brittany Maynard

Dear Brittany,
You don't know me. I don't know you. God knows us both.
Yup. This is one of THOSE letters.
I plead to you.. Please do not end the life that God granted you.
Please don't willingly take a medication that is going to let the last breath slip from your lungs.
I understand that you made a ton of final decisions, and plans.. And maybe even this whole thing has gotten too big. If you backed out now, no one will be upset at you.
No one will call you a quitter or a failure.
My God is a God of miracles. He's a God of life. He's raised men from the dead and made the blind to see.
Even if he doesn't choose to cure you.. Maybe He is making an example of you.. To show others how to act in your situation?
Maybe, like Job, you aren't even the center of your disease? Job had no idea what he did wrong, because he didn't do anything. God was simply conversing with Satan.
How can you be sure that next spring there won't be a cure? Or maybe you'll wake up healed? Or just maybe, a young person got some bad news last week, and now they feel like.. Hey. She can kill herself to get out, why can't I?

I beg you.

God is bigger than all of this.

I'm aware that Brittany will never read this.
But
I can pray.
And I will.

Teal Pumpkin Treats! Don't know what Teal Pumpkin is?... Come on in!

Ok my friends.
It's getting to be the 31st pretty quickly.
Most of you are dreading the slew of children that will bombard your doorstep between now and then.
Some neighborhoods have Halloween on the 31st.. Some the week before... Who knows.
Some won't have it at all!
This year we live in a neighborhood. Like... A legit, kids on bikes, teenagers speeding through the streets at night, strange dogs come and help you light pumpkins... A neighborhood.
So.. I'm assuming all these kids will end up on my doorstep the 31st.
Well.
As a mother with extreme food allergies, it got me thinking..
So many kids are allergic to simple candies that we just hand out all willy nilly like.
Then I ran across an article for The Teal Pumpkin. (There's been a ton of them.. I won't quote them all here.)
Basically, you paint a pumpkin teal and display it in your yard.
This lets parents and children know that you have non-edible treats for those who would rather not run the risk of candy!!
How awesome is this?!!
So!
I went on a mission to create a fun treat that was non edible!
Here's what I came up with:

Walmart has all the Halloween goodies out right now.
I grabbed just a few and went to work.

I picked up a bag of gift baggies
Pencils
Bat Rings
Noise makers and Vampire teeth
I also threw in those Glow Sticks from this review

I tore open all the goodies and put them on the table in an assembly line..
Grabbing one item from each pile, I placed them in the bag. (Being super careful not to break the glow stick!!.. I made it to the LAST bag.. and broke it!!!)

I made 15 bags. I think this will be enough.
For my actual food goodies..
I bought a 5$ box of microwave popcorn, and some lollipops.
(I'm not about to spend a million dollars on chocolate that I won't get to eat!!!)

So there you have it!!

Spread the word about The Teal Pumpkin!!
It's on my local neighborhood Facebook Page.. Add it to yours!!


I'll be spray painting my pumpkin later in the week...

I realized after I made these that I probably need a few toddler sized goodies.. I haven't found any yet, but I still have a couple of weeks!! Keep those little little guys in mind too!!!

That one memory...

You know the one.
It makes you stop everything.
Breathing, even.

As I rocked my son this evening, he squirmed and cried and fussed.
Then I heard nothing.
The sounds of my ten month old were gone.
The television was silent.
The A/C could no longer be heard off in the distance.

All of a sudden I was ten years old.
It was very early. Before dawn.
My father and I were arriving at a cut site.

I was about to spend the work day with my dad.
At the time, he cut trees.
I can remember vividly, the smell of fresh wood.
The massive tires of the Skidder.
The constant smell of oil and exhaust.
The red flannel shirts and the bright orange ball caps.
The wool gloves that got wet in the first five minutes, then never dried.

This was a great memory.
I can recall drinking coffee and eating snacks by myself.
Just sitting alone in the woods. Waiting for dad to come back.
He was off cutting a tree.
When it was cut, he would come get the Skidder and we would ride into the woods to chain it up and drag it out.

There you have it.
A memory I've never shared with anyone.
A memory I'd like to hold on to just a little while longer...

The Humble Pumpkin DIY #3

This post contains an affiliate Amazon link.

Yay!!!
Another Pumpkin post!!!!
(It's the last.. I think ;)  )
If you've followed our Humble Pumpkin's journey so far, you would know that we Carved an F.. and made sweet seeds :)
Today it's BABY FOOD!!!!
Because my son WILL love pumpkin as much as me... WILL.
lol Just kidding. Sort of.

Most of you know this little man is my whole world :)
I try to make his baby food whenever I can. Sometimes it works out and he loves it.. Sometimes, not so much.
This time?
Kid's been eating pumpkin/apple/banana/sweet potato all morning.

Here's how it started.
Remember those leftover cut-outs from our F?
I peeled them and chopped them up. These little leftovers made a TON of puree. Probably about four cups worth!!
DON'T THROW THOSE OUT!!!!
(This can be plopped into freezer bags in 1-cup portions to be used as your pumpkin pie mix!!) Stop buying that canned stuff!!!

I put enough water in the pot to cover them up and tossed about 2 tbs pumpkin pie spice in there.
I boiled them down until soft.
Then Mr. Grumpy Gills decided it was bed time.
So I put these in a baggie and tossed them in the fridge overnight.
Got up (late mind you... yay for sleeping "in"!!!) and decided to cut up  sweet potato...

Then two apples..

Threw those babies into a pot and covered with water and another 2 tbp pumpkin pie spice.

Once boiled down and soft, I let them cool slightly and drained them.. (I kept the liquid, but didn't end up needing it.)
I tossed them in the food processor.

Gave it a whirl then added two bananas.

Yummo!!
If you don't have a baby food bag device.. Go get one Here. They are worth it!!!

This little bit of pumpkin scrap made so much food!!

Nine squeeze pouches!! I couldn't believe it!
I kept one out and added the rest to my dwindling freezer stash.. (Those are blueberry/apple :) )

It's always a treat to get to make Kenny homemade food. I know exactly what's in it and where it came from.
He ate so much of this today.. I'm just sure we're going to have a belly ache later!!!

Please skip the pie spice if you have not given your little one cinnamon.

That's my pumpkin weekend!
I hope you learned something :)
Be on the look out for more Holiday DIY's!

Pinterest Win!!! Halloween Bark!!

I tend to have good luck when it comes to my Pinterest trials.. This is no different!!
I decided to make some Halloween Bark for an upcoming party I'm attending.
It was too easy.

I gathered
Half a package of Halloween Oreo's
One bag Candy Corn
One bag Pretzels (did NOT need such a large bag... I used maybe two cups..)
One bag of white Wilton's Candy Melts
One bag orange Wilton's Candy Melts
(not pictured: coconut oil)
(You can get the melts here)
I lined a cookie sheet with a baking mat (find it here)
I started a double boiler.

And got my Melts A Meltin..

Cut up my Oreo's.. In to quarters.. After a bit I started just chopping them pretty chunky.

I threw them all willy-nilly like onto the mat..

Then I did the same with the pretzels and tossed some candy corn on top.

While that chilled..
I added about a tablespoon of coconut oil to my chocolate.

I realized this STILL wasn't going to be pourable..
So I emptied my pretty mess into a bowl.. and poured my chocolate on top.

While I mixed, I tossed my orange melts into the same bowl.. the colors would mix, but that's just fine.

Added a tad oil as well.
Then I moved on to the mixture.
I combined fully and pressed it back onto the sheet..

Topped it with some leftover Oreo's and Candy Corn.. Then poured the orange on top.

I spread it with a spoon and topped with Candy Corn for good measure.
I placed it in my laundry room to dry for several hours.
This is what you get folks!!

Next time I will add even more pretzels. There's just something about that salty mixed with the chocolate.. You can't beat it!!

Go on and tackle this!! So easy ;)